After the ref had judged that Pete had been pushed just outside the box, Steve drilled the free-kick goalwards and the centre-half could only lash the ball into the roof of the net on the goalline as he tried to clear.
Gareth, Steve and Matt were all involved in neat interplay on the edge of the area, which finished with the big striker laying the ball back to Sam who drilled the ball low past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
Warney took on his man at pace down the byeline and pinged a beautiful cross to the back post, where Pete rose to head home and put the seal on a 3-0 victory.
Bully Wee United (Clyde) 0-3 KaisAYR (Ayr United)
Saturday, 7th March, 2009
Both Leagues
KaisAYR racked up their first clean sheet and their biggest victory of the season with a 3-0 victory away to IFA returnees, Bully Wee United. Second half goals from Steve Noble, Sam Stevens and Pete Noble put the side top of the Scottish League for a couple of hours, before news of PSJ's resounding victory over Arab FC filtered through.
The visitors started the game brightly, with Pete testing the home goalkeeper early on with a shot after gathering a poor goal-kick on the halfway line and driving through. Gamble also fired wide before hitting the post as KaisAYR looked to assert an early advantage. They didn't have it all their own way though, with the Bully Wee outfit also threatening on occassion and Kyle McKay had to be alert to keep his goal intact. In front of him, both Declyn Cooper and Simon Smith were looked assured in defence, giving a solid platform to build upon.
Half-time: Bully Wee United 0-0 KaisAYR
With things tied at the interval, and the game getting somewhat flat, Eddie moved to spice things up by introducing Sam Stevens and Graeme Warnock to the fray, in place of Graeme Morton and Kenny Paterson. The two subs had an immediate impact, most noticably in the body count stakes, with both players being spoken to by the referee for hard tackles. Indeed, Sam's second tackle earned him a yellow card - probably his sides first booking of the season!
When the breakthrough came about, there was an element of luck attached. Pete had chased a ball down into the corner and when it ran out for the throw-in, the referee gave the decision KaisAYR's way, much to the annoyance of the Bully Wee centre-half. After being ticked off, the throw was taken and the same defender ploughed straight through the back of Pete just inside the area. The ref awarded the foul, but judged it to be ouside the box, and the defender trotted back, still cursing the previous throw-in decision. Steve drilled in the set-piece and it evaded everyone in the box, with the same unfortunate centre-back unable to clear as he swung a leg at it on the goalline.
Now that KaisAYR had a lead to work with, they started to string together some spells of decent possession football, ably prompted by Gareth Samson and Sam in the middle of the park. With Warney and Steve posing a threat down the flanks, things looked very promising, although the home side still looked a danger on the counter as they went in search of the equaliser.
The game was finely balanced until the 85th minute when Steve, Gareth and substitute Matt Noble all combined to set up Sam on the edge of the area. He took a touch before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner that the goalkeeper failed to keep out, despite getting down with two hands on the ball.
This took the pressure right off the visitors and Bully Wee United were visibly shaken. Almost from the restart, KaisAYR regained possession and killed the game off completely. Warnock made excellent progress down the right wing and pinged a delightful cross to the back post where Pete arrived to bury his header in the top corner and complete the scoring.
Declyn was voted as the man of the match, well deserved after a faultless and committed display, as the side look to keep the pressure up at the top end of the table with a first trip to IFA new boys, Dunfermline Athletic Supporters Club next weekend.
